1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clothes drying apparatus, and more particularly to a clothes drying apparatus in which lifters, arranged on an inner peripheral surface of a rotating drum while extending axially along the rotating drum, have an improved structure to achieve an enhancement in drying performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, clothes drying machines are adapted to dry clothes contained in a rotating drum, horizontally arranged in a housing, by a flow of hot air passing through the rotating drum during rotation of the rotating drum at low speed in one direction.
Such a clothes drying machine includes a rotating drum receiving clothes to be dried, an intake duct supplying hot air into the rotating drum, an exhaust duct venting the hot air exhausted after circulating the rotating drum, and a driving unit rotating the rotating drum to rapidly dry the clothes.
A heater is installed in the intake duct to increase the temperature of the air introduced into the intake duct. An exhaust fan is installed in the exhaust duct to forcibly vent hot air introduced into the rotating drum through the intake duct.
The driving unit includes a drive motor generating a rotating force, and a belt connected to a rotating shaft of the drive motor while being wound on an outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum. When the drive motor operates, the belt is rotated, thereby rotating the rotating drum.
A plurality of lifters are arranged on an inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum while extending axially along the rotating drum. To more rapidly and effectively dry clothes contained in the rotating drum, the lifters raise the clothes to the top of the rotating drum, and then release the clothes to cause the clothes to be dropped to the bottom of the rotating drum, in accordance with the rotation of the rotating drum.
In the clothes drying machine having the above mentioned configuration, as the drive motor, exhaust fan, and heater operate, the rotating drum is rotated at low speed, and hot air is introduced into the rotating drum through the intake duct. Accordingly, the clothes contained the rotating drum come into contact with the introduced hot air while being downwardly dropped by the lifters, so that they are dried. The air, which has increased humidity due to its absorption of humidity from the clothes coming into contact therewith, is forcibly vented from the clothes drying machine through the exhaust duct.
In this clothes drying machine, however, the clothes may be continuously rotated in a state of being held on the lifters during rotation of the rotating drum, without being dropped after being raised to the top of the rotating drum by the lifters in accordance with the rotation of the rotating drum, because each lifter has an axial structure, with respect to the rotating drum, throughout the length thereof. As a result, the clothes come into insufficient contact with hot air, so that they may be ineffectively dried. Furthermore, there is a drawback in that a prolonged drying operation is required.